Cause Of December Fire On Church Street In Enfield Still Undetermined

ENFIELD — – According to the town fire marshal, the cause of the fire that damaged a multifamily home at 32 Church St. cannot be determined.

According to Marshal Paul Censki's report, the Dec. 22 fire started on the first floor, where Virginia Johnson and Thomas Popham lived, around 5:30 a.m.

Censki interviewed Johnson, who told Censki that she woke up around that time to feed her cats and noticed a small fire on the lower branches of their artificial Christmas tree. She went to the kitchen, filled a pot with water and threw the water at the flames, as she could not find their fire extinguisher, she said. When she threw the water at the tree it began to "spark and pop," according to the report.

The tree was decorated with the type of Christmas lights that are used to drape over outdoor bushes, plugged into an extension cord that was in turn plugged into the wall. Johnson said she would regularly unplug the lights from the wall each night. During Censki's investigation he noticed that the extension cord was plugged into the wall, but that plug where the Christmas lights would go was destroyed.

According to Censki's report, next to the Christmas tree was a television tray with an advent wreath and four candles that were not usually lit, according to Johnson. Censki said he believes that is where the fire started.

"The area of the TV tray is the area of origin," Censki wrote. "The exact point of origin could not be ascertained because of the destruction of the table, electrical wiring and wiring of the tree."

Censki deemed the fire "accidental" because he could not find evidence that there was any criminal intent.

Censki's 157-page report says that an alarm was sounded at 5:33 a.m. and that the Thompsonville Fire Department arrived on scene at 5:34 a.m. The last unit was cleared at 8:36 a.m. The fire at 32 Church St., a three-story building with five apartment units and 12 occupants, also damaged the home next door, 34 Church St.

Two homes nearby, at 33 and 35 Church St., had melted vinyl siding and cracked windows due to the heat of the fire at 32 Church St.

One tenant of 32 Church St. was taken to the hospital for possible smoke inhalation. Johnson also said one of her cats did not survive.

The case will remain open and the investigation will continue, Censki said.